Strings Attached

Chapter 36

Sam sighs. "Fine, go ahead. But it stays between us. And him. But that's it."

"What about Dean?" Garth asks. "Does he know?"

"Of course he doesn't know!" Sam whisper-yells. "You've met those guys. You really think I'm going to tell any of them that I have a boyfriend?"

Castiel can't help but laugh, earning a very confused look from everyone else.

"Am I missing a joke here?" Kevin asks.

Castiel shakes his head. "No, I just find it funny how Dean is so different and not at all one of them, but when it comes to telling him about your dating life, whoop! All that trust goes out the window."

"No, it's not like that," Sam protests. "I just don't want him to let it slip. You know, by accident."

"That's not what I see. I think you know, somewhere, that Dean is just like the rest of them."

"You can shut up now," Sam growls.

Castiel immediately puts his hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay," he says quickly. "Sorry. I didn't mean that."

Sam gives him a confused look. "You seem way too uncomfortable right now."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are," Sam insists. "You do realize that I wouldn't hurt you like they would, right?"

Castiel nods. "Yeah, of course."

"Alright..." Sam replies, but he, just like everyone else in the group, can hear that Castiel isn't as confident as he says.

After an oddly tense moment of silence, Charlie says, "Let's go people hunt! For real!"

The six of them wander around the school for a little bit, looking for anyone who may be picked on by the jocks. After about a minute, the sound of someone cough-saying "pig" gets their attention. They follow the sound of the laughs to see who they are.

"I'll be right back," the familiar voice of Dean says.

"Why?" Crowley asks suspiciously.

"Just gonna hit the can," Dean replies. "God, privacy invasion much?"

"Stop," Castiel says to his friends softly.

"What?" Garth asks, confused.

"Wait 'til Dean leaves. I'd rather not have to deal with him." Castiel glances up at Sam, a slight nervousness to his movement. No one seems to notice, thankfully, and Sam doesn't seem to care that Castiel wants to avoid any unnecessary encounters with his brother.

Surprisingly, they hear Dean's voice again shortly after. "Hey. Donna, is it?"

"Yes," a girl's voice replies hesitantly.

"Forget what they said. You're beautiful just how you are."

"Aw, thanks!" Donna says, sounding overly happy. In a sadder tone, she adds, "But they're right. I am fat."

"No way," Dean replies. "You're just not a stick figure. Personally, I think that's more beautiful."

"Really?"

"Definitely," Dean replies.

There's a brief moment of silence before Donna asks, "Why are you saying that? Do you...?"

Dean chuckles softly, knowing what she means. "No. You're beautiful and all, but I've got my eye on someone else."

"And you're still single? I bet she'd accept in a heartbeat."

Dean sighs. "Unfortunately not, but hey, you can't catch 'em all. This ain't Pokemon, after all."

Donna laughs. "That's good, cuz I can't catch any of 'em."

"You will," Dean assures her. "And it won't be some shallow loser who wants a runway model."

"Thanks."

"Alright, I gotta run," Dean says. "Remember that you're awesome."

The sound of footsteps shows that he's walking away, but no one makes a move to go talk to Donna. They all remain in a shocked silence. That wasn't what any of them expected from him, at all.

It's Sam that speaks finally, and when he does, Castiel wishes he didn't. "I told you so."

Castiel rolls his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. He wanted to hit in some chick. I'm so surprised. That doesn't sound like Dean at all." His voice drips in sarcasm. He still completely believes that Dean is a dick, now and forever.

"He said he wasn't hitting on her," Sam reminds him. "He, quote, 'has his eyes on someone else.'"

"Any idea who?" Charlie asks.

Sam shrugs. "No clue. I'm sure he could get anyone to fall for him. It's kinda his thing. I can't think of someone that hates him too much to give him a chance. But that's not the point here. He wasn't hitting on her. He just wanted to make her feel better. I told you he wasn't a dick."

"He's a dick," Castiel replies.

"He's not!"

"Is too."

"Dean's cool."

"Nope."

"Okay, seriously, what do you have against Dean?" Sam asks.

"Mm... How about everything?" Castiel replies.

"No, seriously," Sam says. "Give me one good reason why you don't like him."

The first thing that comes to mind is obviously the Crowley-level "crush" Dean has, but Castiel isn't going to bring that up. He doesn't want to admit that he fell for their plays at niceness again. Instead, Castiel goes with the obvious.

"I think you underestimate how many times he's beat me up. He's worse than Crowley."

"But then he stopped," Sam says. "And it could have stayed like that 'til you told him to get lost."

"How about we play a game?" Castiel proposes. "It's called 'let people form their own opinions based on the evidence that they have been given and stop trying to change their mind.'"

"Fine," Sam agrees. "So stop trying to get me to hate him, and I'll stop trying to get you to like him. Deal?"

"Deal."

"Hey, happy topics!" Charlie says quickly. "We should totally add Sabriel to our group chat!"

"'Sabriel'?" Kevin echoes.

"Sam and Gabriel," Charlie clarifies. "It's their ship name."

"Right, because that's really important," Gabriel says sarcastically. "But hey, group chats are fun. I'm game."

"Same," Sam replies.

"Oh my god, you guys are rhyming!" Charlie squeals. "That's adorable!"

There's a group facepalm at her enthusiasm. It isn't the first, and it won't be the last. She's crazy, and that's why they love her.